Chasing Pavements
by sd freek
Summary: Reed is devastated when Sue is abruptly taken from him. He discovers a way to bring her back, but his method puts the whole world at risk. Is his happiness really above everyone else's?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Author's note: I came up with this idea right after I saw ROTSS, but I never got round to posting. Well now I have, I don't know if it all sees a bit rushed. If it does, tell me (but in a nice way) and if you like it, TELL ME!**

Sue was almost grateful for her sudden insomnia. She sat cross-legged on the bed with Reed snoring softly beside her and a half empty photo album in her lap. There were many things she never had time to do and organising photos was one of them. Sue glanced at the blinking LCD clock on the bedside table; it read 02:43. She had been up for at least an hour and a half and had already spent her time filling up another photo album.

Sue grabbed another photo from the slowly shrinking pile and stared at it for a few moments. It was a picture of Reed and Sue standing outside Basilica Di San Marco in Venice, right after saving it from the rising waters. They were dressed in their wedding outfits. Sue's kimono had a large tear and Reed's once white shirt was a murky pale grey, but Sue had already decided it was her favourite wedding picture. A small smile crossed her face; even though she had spent her wedding day saving people and had the shortest wedding ceremony known to man, it had been one of the best days of her life. Still smiling, Sue slipped the photograph into the album and picked up another photo.

Others probably considered the work monotonous; Johnny had always weaselled his way out of making family photo albums, even when he was small. But Sue enjoyed it: she liked reminiscing as she took each photo and slipped into its own transparent holder.

It had been only eight days since the Fantastic Four had narrowly avoided the end of the world and a mere week since Susan Storm had become Susan Richards. It felt like a lifetime and Sue was certain it was a good thing. She felt as though she had been married to Reed forever, it all felt so natural. The word fate came to mind whenever she pondered her relationship with Mr Fantastic.

Susan suddenly felt dizzy as she began to wonder if she was meant to be sitting on the bed at that very moment, organizing wedding photos. As Reed constantly reminded her, it had also been nine days since she had died.

_I died._

Susan often tried to pretend it didn't bother her but there was something incredibly unsettling about realising she had ceased to exist for thirty seconds. She had absolutely no memory of any sort of afterlife or anything. It felt a lot like she had just fallen asleep. The Surfer's intervention was unnatural, the kind of thing that wasn't meant to happen. By all rights she should be dead, shouldn't she? She had quite literally been resurrected and as Reed had constantly told her, the both of them were incredibly lucky to get another chance.

Sue closed the photo album and got off the bed. She walked quickly and quietly towards the window. Slowly she propped it open, glad that Reed had finally got round to stopping the irritating squeak that seemed to pop up every time the window moved. It was mid-August so she didn't feel cold standing by an open window in a flimsy slip. The sky was cloudy, hiding the twinkling stars beneath a blanket of cotton wool. Sue stared out over the New York skyline; even with the missing stars it was still a beautiful sight. She leaned over the edge of the window and stared down at the street below. Not surprisingly, it wasn't very busy. A few paparazzi were hanging around outside the building, hoping to get a shot of a drunken Johnny going home or the mysterious woman he had been seen with over the last couple of days. Sue smiled. She knew Johnny wouldn't be coming home tonight: something about trying to win back Frankie. Johnny's new girlfriend hadn't been impressed with the stunt he had been pulled at the wedding or the pictures that had surfaced of him partying in Venice a few days ago.

A sudden wave of vertigo hit Sue and she quickly stepped away from the window and into the safety of the room. She sat back on the bed to stabilize herself.

Beside her Reed stirred in his sleep.

Sue closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the bed. Much to her surprise the light-headed feeling did not disappear. She began to take a few deep breaths, but after a few seconds her breathing began to struggle.

Raspy, laboured breaths echoed through the room.

Sue stood up to make her way to the bathroom. The uncomfortable feeling of nausea began to fill her. She stumbled into the en suite, heading straight for the toilet. She fumbled blindly for the light switch, eventually finding it, before she entered the room.

A fleeting, absent-minded look in the mirror made Sue freeze. Something didn't look right.

"Reed," she tried to shout, but her voice came out as a raspy whisper.

Reed shifted around slightly.

Sue stared, frozen, at her reflection. She looked...dead. Panic began to fill her as pain shot through her chest. There was no way she was simply 'coming down with something' and she didn't even try and consider morning sickness. One hand automatically reached out to clutch the painful spot. She looked down and was horrified at the sight that greeted her.

The fabric beneath and around her hand was slowly turning crimson. It spread out like a drop of ink, growing bigger and bigger. Shocked, Sue pulled her hand away only to found her palm had a thin coating of the sticky substance. The pain was overwhelming. Sue made a few more futile attempts to scream for her husband, unable to tear her eyes off her reflection.

The stifling pain built up until it was, quite simply, no more.

Her body fell to the ground with a dull thud. She lay on her back; her arms lay limply by her side. Blank eyes stared up at the lampshade she had brought only a few weeks before.

Reed didn't even move.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

**Author's Note: What can I say? I had my GCSEs and music exams. Fanfiction wasn't exactly at the top of my list of priorities. Anyway thank you to those who reviewed. During my GCSEs all my ideas just dried up and those reviews seemed to bring them back to life again D  
**

--

It had been days since Reed had worn a suit - it had been for his own wedding; a quick, intimate, little ceremony with a "gorgeous backdrop" as Sue had repeatedly called it. He had planned to wear his wedding suit for the service, but found that it didn't quite look the same after it had served as a temporary superhero outfit. The dilapidated Armani outfit was arranged neatly across the bed, as Reed stared at it he finally understood that the blue and incredibly versatile all in ones weren't just for comfort.

The new suit didn't feel the same. Reed felt slightly awkward and the material was stiff. As he put on his navy tie, Reed wondered whether Sue would be offended if he chose to wear his Fantastic Four outfit - there was a reason he wore it all the time.

Reed stared at his reflection and proudly decided he didn't look like a broken man. He had spent the past fourteen days wandering aimlessly around the Baxter Building; crying and recounting the moment he discovered the body.

**FLASHBACK**

The shrill screech of the alarm woke Reed up at 7.01am exactly. Reed lazily stretched a hand over to the alarm clock and hit the bedside table blindly a few times, until he hit the off button. Automatically he looked to his left. Reed was not entirely surprised to see the space beside him was empty. A small smile graced his lips as he noticed the stack of photo albums. Organising memories had become Sue's new addiction. Instead of sleeping, she had taken to doing the work the rest of the Fantastic Four hated.

Yawning, Reed sat up and sniffed the air hopefully. His shoulders sagged as he sniffed the air vainly, trying to detect the faintest sign of a fried breakfast. He could, however, hear the relieving sounds of the radio. Sue always listened to the radio when she cooked.

Reed threw back his bed covers and swung his feet over the edge - one foot after another. His right foot gently came into contact with the slightly rough, warm carpet. His left foot followed suit, but was greeted with something much different.

He didn't notice it at first. The soft, silky, wispy strands caressed his little toe so softly that it took a few moments for the alien contact to register in the scientist's brain. Frowning, Reed lifted up his foot and looked down.

The first thing he saw was the hair. It lay, haphazardly, under her head like a golden photo frame. Her face was pale and still. Her eyes stared up at the new lampshade.

Reed's eyes travelled down her neck to the gaping hole in her chest and for a moment, his heart stopped.

**END FLASHBACK**

At first he had believed it was a cruel joke. He stared at it for a while; trying to find clues that it was a mannequin. When he couldn't find any, Reed had searched the whole penthouse, he had even ventured into the lobby - in his pyjamas, much to the joy of the paparazzi - to question Jimmy. Of course it hadn't been a mannequin, just a very real, very dead body.

A quick glance at the small digital clock a few feet away told Reed it was time to get going. Pushing the gory image of his head, Reed ran a hand through his hair. Fixing his tie and smoothing out the jacket lapels, Reed left the spare room and made his way into the kitchen where his friends would be awaiting him.

Ben, Johnny and Alicia were all sat around the table. Ben was sipping from his favourite oversized mug. Alicia had both of her dainty hands draped over one of Ben's large ones. She muttered soothing words of encouragement and condolence in a tranquil and understanding voice. Ben nodded numbly, his eyes fixed on the wall opposite. Johnny was absent-mindedly playing with an empty beer bottle. He stared at it, unconscious of its involuntary movement and fighting the urge to go to the fridge and grab another bottle.

Reed cleared his throat as he entered the room and all eyes, but Alicia's, turned to him. Ben mumbled a greeting, Alicia offered an optimistic smile in his direction, and Johnny gave him a fleeting glance in acknowledgement of his presence.

"Has the car arrived yet?" Reed asked quietly.

"No," Ben and Alicia said simultaneously. Johnny shook his head slowly.

Reed took his normal seat at the table and the group fell into silence.

Johnny made his decision on the trivial beer dilemma and pushed his chair back slowly. The sound of the wood scraping against the floor echoed through the room and all heads turned in his direction.

"Do you really want to be drunk at your sister's memorial service?" Alicia asked sharply. Johnny shook his head numbly, forgetting that Alicia could not see his actions, and pulled his chair back in. The irritating scraping sound filled the air before the room fell into silence again.

--

Johnny found he was still juggling the beer bottle when he was sitting in the car. A moment of panic took over as he imagined the paparazzi gorging themselves over the sight of him clutching a bottle after his sister's death. It was quickly subdued and Johnny set the bottle on the floor. The car turned a corner and the bottle rolled across the car floor. Ben glared as the glass smacked against his foot; Johnny ignored him and looked out the window.

Hundreds had turned up to watch the car procession. Various people, some of which Johnny didn't know very well, were travelling behind in cars on their way to the service. The young superhero was slightly disturbed to see that some of the crowd looked tearful - he would never cry at the death of someone he did not know personally - and wondered what it was that made them want to cry so much. He found himself cringing at the sight of a man crying hysterically on the ground.

Crying was not something Johnny was prone to doing; he wasn't emotional like Ben or completely stoic like Reed (though Johnny had to admit his previous ideas about Reed had flown out the window, what with his recent incessant wailing). Normally Johnny was the only person in the team where a smile could be found 24/7. Over the past month it had changed somewhat: the narrowly averted apocalypse had shown Johnny that so far, his life had been complete shit. His attempts to turn his life around and settle down with a different kind of girl had failed; mainly because the girl he had in mind didn't think he was the right kinda guy.

--

There was one thing about Ben Grimm that the public did not know: He cried.

A lot.

He cried at weddings. He cried at milestone birthdays. He cried at Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs. He cried at christenings. He cried when his team won championships and when they lost. He cried at the ends of films, particularly when they were unexpected or he had a soft spot for the characters. But most of all, he cried when someone died

Ben was no stranger to death; by the age of 18 he had already buried every member of his immediate family. He had once been part of a street gang that had been partial to getting itself in bloody messes and he was working in a profession where it was not always possible to save everybody. In the cases where he had personally known the deceased, Ben had cried. He had cried every single time.

Ben's emotional side was not one he liked to publicise; after all it would completely destroy his reputation as the Fantastic Four's hard man. It was hard for him to imagine himself scaring off guys with a single glare when they had seen him crying on the television the day before.

--

Victor Von Doom had decided to swallow his pride and take a taxi.

He hadn't taken a taxi in years, but he knew he couldn't show up in a car with a number plate reading 'VD DOOM'. As far as the remaining members of the Fantastic Four were concerned, he was at the bottom of a river somewhere near Shanghai. Victor wasn't aiming for a confrontation at that moment. He was just desperate to get a glimpse of Reed Richards.

Victor's eyes glinted as a large car pulled up outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. He leaned towards the window and watched as four figures got out. He smiled as he recognized them. Reed's usually straight posture seemed to have been crippled with grief. He slumped forward and dragged himself up the steps. Behind him walked Ben Grimm. He seemed much more together. Beside him walked his blind girlfriend. Victor gave her a fleeting glance: her pain was of no interest to him. Hovering near the back walked Johnny Storm. He seemed to have adopted Reed's poor posture and looked slightly lost amid the fans and paparazzi, despite the barrier separating them. Victor's eyes gleamed as he noticed the beer bottle in the youngest superheroes hands.

"Ya gonna get out now? I've gotta job to do," the taxi driver said impatiently. He had been parked opposite the cathedral for ten minutes now, allowing Victor to watch the cathedral eagerly.

Victor waited until the four people had disappeared into the cathedral before he replied.

"Just one more stop," he muttered. "Take me to JFK." The driver rolled his eyes and pulled out of his parking space.

Victor settled back into the seat, briefly forgetting his rules about hygiene and public transport. He couldn't be happier. The moment felt slightly surreal. For years he had dreamt of the day when one of the four, if not all, passed away. He had to admit he was disappointed that Susan did not die of his own hand, but he was willing to overlook that particular fact and focus on the positive aspects.

It was as Victor focused on the positive aspects that he thought he saw a flash of light. He couldn't be sure. The car was moving and he had only given the alleyway a fleeting glance. He didn't know what it was, but he had a pretty good idea. A smile spread across Victor's face as his mind began to grasp what he had seen.

He was pretty sure that whatever it was, it was silver.


End file.
